Computer networks are well known for providing communication between different computing systems to enable one system to share information with another system. For example, a computer system may store information in pages. Such pages may include, but are not limited to, Web pages, documents, files, etc. that are stored or generated dynamically on local or remote computing systems. Pages are often accessed in reference to a Uniform Resource Identifier (“URI”), such as by entering a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) into a Web browser. Pages may also be accessed by sending a File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”) command, or otherwise invoking a computer process to obtain access to a page. In circumstances where a computer network is involved, a client system can access pages using a network address that identifies the desired page in the computer network. Computer networks range from local area networks to wide area networks to global networks including the Internet. The Internet, in particular, enables users to access a large number of pages.
In the realm of the World Wide Web (“the Web”), typical computer users access Web pages by instructing a browser operating at their local client computer to transmit a request for a Web page using a URL. Domain name servers direct the Web page request to one or more server computers that correspond to the network domain identified in the URL. When the server computers receive the Web page request, the server computers transmit markup code that embodies the Web page to the client computer of requesting user. The user's browser receives the markup code and displays the Web page to the user.
Pages transmitted to users often include various hyperlinks that point to or link to network addresses of other pages. Such pages may contain large numbers of hyperlinks, with many of the hyperlinks previously unseen by the user. If a page includes a description of the content linked to by the hyperlinks, it will usually be short and may not be detailed enough to help the user determine which, if any, of the hyperlinks will likely be helpful or useful to select or “click-through” in order to visit the linked-to page.
Some browser application programs are configured to change the color of a hyperlink when the user has previously clicked through the hyperlink. For example, a browser application may display a hyperlink in purple to indicate the hyperlink has previously been clicked through by the user. If the user has not previously clicked through a hyperlink, the browser displays the hyperlink in another color (e.g., blue). Because of the large number of hyperlinks available on typical Web pages, users may find it very difficult to identify which hyperlinks are more likely to be useful to them based only on a brief description (if any) and whether or not they have previously clicked through the hyperlink. This same problem occurs with most “history” or “favorites” lists provided by application programs, because the hyperlinks provided in such lists are typically not differentiated from each other when displayed to the user. After a list of hyperlinks grows beyond a certain size, the user may not be able to remember which hyperlinks have been helpful in the past and which hyperlinks are less useful or are no longer used.
Given the problems and shortcomings noted above, it is apparent that a method and system that helps users identify which hyperlinks have been used more frequently in the past or are considered more helpful or useful will have significant benefits, particularly if the systems and methods require minimal or no effort on the part of the user.